Kabul: An Eye –Witness Account

The last time I had a glimpse of Afghanistan was a little less than eighteen years ago. During all these years, one of my wishes was a return trip home. Finally, my wish became a reality when I scheduled my flight to Afghanistan in June of this year. When I arrived in Kabul, I was extremely dismayed by the situation in the capital. The reason for my disappointment was not because I found Kabul turned upside down due to war and in-fighting. What Kabul went through since 1991 up to the Taliban’s downfall is part of history and there is nothing we can do to change the past. However, the reason for my dissatisfaction was that how little the current government and the international community have done to rebuild the city rise from its ruins.

Most of us here in the West hear all these nice stories about the Afghan government and the international community initiating new projects to rebuild the country’ infrastructure. However, if the situation I found Kabul in is an indication of the government’s effort to rebuild Afghanistan we have to all be gravely concerned about our country’s and people’s future. Below, I am presenting my impression of the situation in Kabul and what I saw there. For ease in finding what might interest you, I have categorized my account of the capital’s situation into these parts:

(1) Flight to Kabul
(2) Arrival at Kabul Airport
(3) Around Kabul City
(4) Security
(5) Life in Kabul
(6) The Bureaucracy
(7) Education
(8) Women
(9) Prices
(10) Parliamentary Elections

Flight To Kabul: Those of you who haven’t been to Kabul yet but are planning on doing so might find this part interesting. I flew to Kabul by Ariana from Frankfurt, Germany. Our flight was scheduled for 8pm, but when all was said and done, our flight took off at 10:15pm, a two hours and fifteen minutes delay. The plane was packed with passengers (about 240 passengers) except for a few empty seats in the first class section. To my surprise, the flight itself was very quiet and comfortable. The service was average and the food was sub-standard, but the flight attendants were hospitable and helpful. If you are flying to Afghanistan from the US or Canada, I recommend the Frankfurt rout over the Dubai or other ones. The Ariana plane flying from Frankfurt is newer, bigger and better equipped. However, it costs a bit more.

Arrival at Kabul Airport: The last hour and a half of our flight to Kabul was pretty enjoyable. The terrain below was absolutely gorgeous, especially, the mountain tops which were still covered with snow. Our plane touched down at Kabul airport at around 6:50am. It was a pretty emotional moment because most of the passengers and I were returning home for the first time after years of life abroad. The airport itself was an interesting sight. It was full of all sorts of things, including, military and civilian planes, helicopters, military vehicles, bunkers, burned down and destroyed planes and helicopters, not to mention the weeds, thorns, bushes and wild shrubs.

When we got off the plane, we were guided towards a building which one could call the arrival gate. Of course there are no such things as gates or terminals per se, and considering what Afghanistan went through, one shouldn’t expect much anyways. Once inside, we were asked to line up so that our passports could be checked and registered by the border police. While some of us were lining up, friends and relatives of some passengers, unlike the rest of us, led a number of the passengers with connections in the current government out of the room. The preferential treatment rendered to the few wasn’t unexpected, but I took it as a reminder that I had to adjust myself to the rules governing Afghanistan.

My drive home was lively. The cab driver, knowing that I was returning from the West, made sure to get out of me as much money as he could even though the airport police told us how much my fare would be.

Around Kabul City: Like most Afghans abroad, my information about the situation in Afghanistan has been based on the daily news provided by the media and occasional conversations with friends and relatives back home. Thus, I had a pretty optimistic outlook about the country’s progress in all spheres of life. But there is an Afghan proverb, which says: “Hearing is not the same as seeing.” The optimistic view I had about things making a turn for the better in Afghanistan began to wane upon my arrival in Kabul. As days went by, I noticed that Kabul was in a situation a lot worse than I had thought. Despite three and a half years since the establishment of a new government in Afghanistan, with the full backing and support of the entire world, I was shocked and dismayed by how little Kabul had progressed since the Taliban’s downfall.

First, as expected, Kabul city looks a lot worse than what it was in the seventies or eighties. Despite repairs and renovations of the last three and a half years (mostly carried out by private citizens and business owners), it is still like an old, beat up and destroyed city. The streets need major repairs. They are covered with holes and ditches. It seemed as though the streets were never repaired since the era of the Soviet occupation.

Second, I was shocked to see more than half of the municipal districts (Naahiya) in the city had no access to safe drinking water. Here, I am not talking about providing water to those residents of Kabul who live half way up the mountains or hills in and around Kabul but the people who have been living within the boundaries of the municipal districts for years. Many families spend about 20AFS (which is the equivalent of spending twenty dollars in the US) everyday for ten gallons of water just to have enough safe water for cooking and drinking.

The same goes for electricity. Roughly, about half of Kabul city’s municipal districts (this does not include most of the houses that have been built by people without a permit) have no electricity at all. An area, such as Deh Mazang, which is located less than five km from the Presidential Palace, has no electricity. In most areas where electricity is provided the service is intermittent.

I wonder what could be more important for the government than providing water and electricity for he people?! I asked people why they don’t complain to the authorities. The response was rather shocking. I was told that the situation with the electric service had improved after the appointment of Ismael Khan as the Minister of Water and Power. The reason I said I was shocked by the response is that Ismael Khan is categorized as a Warlord and he is supposed to be part of the problem not the solution. But, it was rather ironic that a warlord, not a technocrat educated in the West, was delivering on the promise of serving the people.

Other public services are also inadequate. The city is littered with trash. I mean piles of trash. Health clinics exist in all municipal districts, but due to lack of professional care, a significant number of people prefer going to private physicians even though the latter comes with a cost.

Traffic is another major problem in Kabul city. The streets are crowded with pedestrians, carts, vendors, vehicles and even animals in certain parts of the city. Driving is a major headache in Kabul. There are no traffic rules and if there are any, no one follows them. There were a few traffic lights in Kabul in the seventies and eighties, but I didn’t see any right now.

Security: The over all security of Kabul was satisfying. Of course, there were occasional reports of thefts and kidnappings, but it seemed that there was no cause for concern about attacks by the insurgents. On occasions, the international coalition forces can be seen patrolling different parts of the city, but compared to the Russian troops’ presence in Afghanistan, they seem to be non-existent. Except in areas where government offices are located, I did not see much of the Afghan army and police force either. Occasionally, the Afghan police erect roadblocks in various parts of the city, but their search of vehicles is so sloppy and arbitrary that it is nothing more than wasting time.

As you know, Kabul is no longer under nightly curfew, but after the dark, the center of the city gets deserted in a hurry. Most taxi drivers stop working at eight or nine in the evening. After ten, it is pretty hard to find a cab, and when I asked for the reason, I was told that cab drivers are afraid of being robbed of their money and vehicle by their passengers. However, quite a bit of private and government owned vehicles venture on the streets till early hours of the morning.

In the neighborhoods, shops are open till ten or eleven. Small groups of youngsters and adolescents can be seen huddled together, talking and joking around. During the day, too, neighborhood alleys are full of children, young boys and teenagers. It didn’t seem that people were concerned about child kidnapping, which was a real problem a year ago.

Life in Kabul: Kabul city’s population has really exploded by the return of Afghans from abroad. The whole city seems to be packed with people. But based on my observation, the good news is that, right now, it seems there are a lot more people with a better standard of living in Kabul than the seventies and eighties. The reason for this is not because of our government’s efforts in the last three and a half years, but it is due to the Afghans’ success when they lived as refugees in Pakistan, Iran and other countries. A good number of people have private vehicles now. Having things, like a TV set, VCR/DVD, fridge, washing machine, etc. is not something to brag about any more. Electric generators are also pretty common in Kabul today.

Another popular thing in Kabul is going on a picnic on Fridays. Personally, I didn’t get a chance to go to Paghman or Shamali, but my friends told me that one could hardly find an empty spot in these areas on the weekend. In the city too, I saw a lot more “ordinary” people going to restaurants or having a cold fruit juice or “sheryakh” (Afghan ice cream). The women’s sections of ice cream parlors were also mostly full.

Another thing that is different in Kabul now is having a cell phone. A vast array of the population, whether poor or rich, is already equipped with one. One day, I was sitting in a physician’s waiting room with a number of people including an old woman from the countryside. After a while a cell phone started to ring. I was pleasantly surprised when the woman reached underneath her chaadar “large head-and-body scarf) and came out with a cell phone form the top of her chest.

Internet has also made its way to Afghanistan, especially, the Kabul city. It costs you from 40AFS to 100AFS per hour. The average rate is about sixty Afghanis. Some Internet cafes have very old machines, so, be ware. Also, be warned that some cafes that have the latest models of computers have their browsers linked to adult sites. The second you go online, adult sites start popping up on the screen for the first few minutes. Some of the pop-up windows contain graphic pictures. I guess you could call this democracy in action, but seriously, I hope underage teens are not exposed to such material.

Movies don’t seem to be doing good right now in Kabul compared to the seventies and eighties. I hardly saw people going in and out of movie theaters. Part of the reason is that people have widespread access to TVs, VCRs and DVDs. Almost every evening, an Indian or Western film is shown on one of the Kabul’s three TV stations. Playing Indian, Iranian and Tajik songs and music is a common occurrence on Kabul’s various radio stations. However, the overall quality of TV and radio programs is down due to lack of experienced and professional personnel.

The Bureaucracy: Not many Afghans in Kabul have anything good to say about the current government. Except for the high level officials, everyone else is critical of the administration. Part of the reason for people’s critical view is that the government hasn’t achieved much success since its establishment. Not only it hasn’t achieved much success, it is also plagued by widespread corruption, unprecedented bribery, favoritism and factionalism along party and ethno-linguistic lines, incompetence, apathy, indifference and many other factors. It is common knowledge right now that you can’t get anything done in Afghanistan unless you have some high-level connections or money to bribe your way out.

It would be unfair to put the entire blame on Karzai and his cabinet. However, they do have a responsibility to do something to change the situation. So far, no steps have been taken to remedy the situation

Some of the government’s problems, however, do require long-term solutions. For instance, there is an acute shortage of qualified and professional individuals. The government has tried to alleviate the problem by hiring Afghans and non-Afghans who are equipped with higher education. But in this case too, most Afghans have nothing positive to say about them. Part of the reason could be resentment by the local Afghans, but, in reality, the “educated experts” have achieved little success in their efforts to convince people otherwise. I was told that many of these experts are paid exorbitant salaries in dollar, but they are unfamiliar with the country’s unique situation and, therefore, don’t know what to do. It seems true that technical know-how is not enough in Afghanistan. In addition one has to have experience working in Afghanistan. To give you an example, I was told that Afghanistan’s Central Bank was in disarray right now because its ex-chairman wanted to computerize the financial institution. In the process of modernization, I was told that the Central Bank has lost track of its accounting. Right now the Bank does not know how much its balance is. So, what this means is if someone stole millions of dollars from the Bank today, there would be no way for the Bank to find out about the stolen money unless it can track and account for each one of its transactions in the past three years. It seems that modernization has backfired in this case. Bringing in a few bankers and purchasing some computers do not seem to be enough to modernize a financial institution. Similar to this, there are many other cases of mismanagement by the government.

In my opinion, the government has to come up with some measures of accountability. It needs to come down hard on corruption and mismanagement. The government has received billions of dollars in aid, but it has nothing to show for it. Where has all the aid gone, other than the pockets of the government officials, of course?!

Although various foreign countries, to repair and renovate, adopt some schools, tens of other schools are still in appalling condition. I was told that government officials also pocketed funds allocated for renovating schools, especially by the former Minister of Education. There were also many reports of mismanagement. I was told that five million dollar was spent to refurbish and restore the Malalai High School. This is an exorbitant amount of money to be spent for renovating a single school. I bet one can built five new schools, from the ground up, with that amount of money, but in Afghanistan, it has been spent to renovate a single school.

The only good thing I heard regarding education is that some NGOs were involved in retraining schoolteachers in Kabul. Some of the teachers I knew were very satisfied with the training they received, but they were complaining that the officials of the Ministry of Education under various pretexts pocketed most of the funds allocated for the seminars attendees.

Kabul University was also in bad shape. It looked like an abandoned property. None of the buildings seemed to have been repaired or painted since Karzai’s reign. The campus was littered with plastic bags and bottles, not to mention weeds, thorns, and shrubs growing just about anywhere.

The University in attended by both male and female students. Most students still dress conservatively. Many wear the traditional Afghan clothes (peraahan wa tombaan). Most female students wear scarves. Male and female students do mingle with each other, but most of the time, female students exclusively communicate with each other, staying away from small talk with their male counterparts.

One of the problems facing the University is lack of qualified teachers. Some professors, besides teaching, have a second or even a third job to earn a living. The University cannot raise its educational standards unless it hires qualified teachers and provides up-to-date teaching material.

Women: Despite the fact that women have regained some of their rights trampled under the Taliban’s rule, they still have a long way to go before being fully acknowledged as equal members of the society. The conservative character of the Afghan society is quite apparent in the way women go about their daily business in Kabul city. Compared to the seventies and eighties, there are far less women venturing out on the streets and markets. In addition, women are still very conservative in the way they dress. There are two or even three times more women with burqas or some sort of a head-to-toe dresses or veils than there are women without them.

While people’s earnings are less than 3,000 Afghani a month, the prices of commodities have shot through the roof. First of all, the cost of housing is outrageous due to shortage of homes and concentration of Afghans in the capital. House rents vary depending on location, availability of electricity, water, etc. A house with two bedrooms, one living room, a kitchen and a bathroom is rented for about 4,000 Afghani. A three-bedroom apartment in (Microrayon) starts from three hundred dollars (15,000AFS) and goes up.

Twenty or thirty years ago, too, a mid-level government employee made about 2,500 to 2,700 Afghanis per month, but, then, things were a lot cheaper too. Here is a comparison of some of the things:

	Price 25 years ago	Current Price
A loaf of bread	2AFS	6AFS
Potatoes	8AFS (Chaarak, (about 2kg))	25AFS
Tomatoes	4 to 8AFS (Chaarak)	35AFS
Okra	10AFS (Chaarak)	40AFS
Rice	80AFS (7kg)	200-250AFS
Mutton	25-40 AFS	180-200AFS
Average size Chicken	30AFS	120-150AFS
Yogurt	4-8AFS (kg)	50-60AFS
Melon	15-20AFS (7kg)	55-65AFS
Grapes	8-12AFS (Chaarak)	50-80AFS
Shiryakh (Afg. Ice Cream)	5AFS	25AFS
Can of soda	5AFS	15AFS
Food in an average restaurant	10-12AFS (per person)	45-65AFS
Taxi (5-7km)	20AFS	50AFS

Parliamentary Elections: When I was in Kabul, except for the candidates themselves, few people paid attention to elections for the lower chamber of the parliament. On occasions, when I asked friends and relatives about their thoughts on election, they didn’t care much about it. People seem to have already concluded that the parliamentary elections would change little in their lives just as was the case with the presidential election. I was told that, in countryside, the warlords and former armed factions were in complete control of the situation in their areas. It is said that people who have the most power and money right now will be “elected” to the parliament. The situation won’t be different in Kabul either. Very few candidates seemed to have any specific platforms or agendas. Worse yet, alliances were being forged based on ethnic and linguistic affinities.

My understanding was that the parliamentary elections will achieve little in terms of propelling the country on the path to democracy except that the whole process would be used as a propaganda tool by the current government and the international community at the expense of, once again, the Afghan people.